The Dungeon Master Experience: It’s About Time
omund’s secret chest and the campaign, so “Andraste Prime” stayed with her
de as their reward. companions while “Andraste Past” conveniently left
ravel back in time. the group to pursue other quests and interests.
Andraste Past was absent from the campaign for
discuss the dramatic over a year of game time (about ten levels of play),
ng-lost characters and so even Michele was surprised when her character’s
n posed by Khilkhameth temporal twin reappeared shortly after Andraste
cle has prompted me to Prime’s demise. The trick for me was concocting a
question is: situation that would logically reunite Andraste Past
rs involved in the game with the other heroes. To my credit, I had previously
illed off? set up a major quest to rescue Andraste’s father, an
ve them play something eladrin wizard of some repute who had been arrested
hem play an NPC com- for conspiracy. It made perfect sense that Andraste
ter stat block, or have Past would learn of her father’s incarceration, par-
aritions that haunt the ticular since the news had been delivered to her
uals can be cast. Anything temporal twin via sending stone. (I decided it was pos-
ayers fall asleep at the sible for Andraste Past to overhear messages intended
one Monday night player, for Andraste Prime.)
ng back an old character You’ve seen this trick used many times in TV
l but forgotten. shows and movies: Having suffered a great loss or
ntly lost two charac- setback, the heroes are drowning their sorrows when
e Yuriel (played by Nick a familiar face appears out of the blue. It might be
warlord Andraste (played the face of salvation or a harbinger of worse things to
ell prey to a death knight come. Either way, it’s a tried-and-true cliché that can
ortunately, Nick had a be surprisingly rousing, particularly if the character
he crew on the party’s ship, is beloved or reviled. (I used a similar trick once with
ituation was a bit more a villain who’d cloned himself. As I recall, his sudden
ve a ready-to-play back-up reappearance was greeted with gasps of “Oh, no!” fol-
ht. lowed by shaking of fists.) Remember the scene in J.J.
, the heroes used the arch- Abrams’ Star Trek when Spock Prime first appears in
(a single-use wondrous the ice cave? Yeah, you know what I’m talkin’ about.
to travel back in time and Andraste Past filled the hole left behind by poor
ast. It was a great way Andraste Prime, but not perfectly. In order for
dicament, and afforded Michele to effectively play Andraste Past, she needed
am up with themselves a quick download of that character’s recent accom-
or a session or two. The plishments—just the highlights. This required some
d forces to face a common prep work on my part, and the information I pro-
he only character to sur- vided gave Michele a sense of the experiences that
iving twin. Michele didn’t had shaped Andraste Past once she’d left the party.
characters for the rest of Of course, she was free to swap out her old gear for
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 50
new stuff, as appropriate. For Michele, these events When I decided to give the
afforded her the opportunity to redefine Andraste’s glass talisman, I did so with
relationship with the other heroes and play a version that the heroes could go bac
of the character with her own agenda and aspirations. selves, and change the cour
if a character travels back in
Lessons Learned ents before he’s born. What
character suddenly disappe
Time travel is a great storytelling tool, but like erased himself, or is he a se
a chainsaw it comes with a warning label. Used unborn self and therefore u
unwisely, it can mutilate your campaign, as it not to overthink it, but ther
demands a great deal of forethought and caution. I ing logic that the players ca
once subjected the Monday night group to the effects playing a game without rule
of an arcane contraption that teleported them into your campaign to crack and
the future—the specifics of which are discussed in My own rules for time tr
my blog. It was shocking and fun, but it took weeks
of preparation since I needed to figure out all the ✦ A character traveling t
ways in which Future Iomandra was different from from play in the prese
Current Iomandra. (In general, the farther into the
future you travel, the more gaps need to be filled.) ✦ A character traveling t
Also, there are many complex factors to consider, is not affected by the c
such as determining which characters are still alive creatures around him
in the future, and what tragic fates befell the ones that younger versions of hi
aren’t. wounded and killed as
My dalliance with time travel in the Iomandra adverse happens to him
campaign has taught me a few things: self is injured or dies.
✦ If you use time travel, be ready for the ✦ Time travel effects hav
unexpected. how far into the past o
travels, he only gets to
✦ The past is easier to navigate than the future. amount of time before
ends and he returns to
✦ Keep the “rules” for time travel as simple as whence he came. In th
possible. like an elastic band; ev
eler gets pulled back t
Don’t introduce time travel if you’re worried about place he left, minus an
players altering your campaign’s history or acquiring resources he expended
items or information normally beyond their reach. character dies in the p
Just as I view time travel as a fun way to mess with my
players, they see time travel as a fun way to mess with ✦ If a character acquires
my campaign. As for the “rules” of time travel, you future, he still has the
need to determine how to handle temporal paradoxes to his normal time. So
and the extent to which the heroes can affect change. to the future, kills an e
The Dungeon Master Experience: It’s About Time
e Monday players the hour- the wizard’s staff back to the present, the
the full understanding character now has the staff and the wizard
ck in time, meet them- (who is technically still alive) does not.
rse of history. But imagine
n time and kills his par- These rules don’t address every corner case that
t happens next? Does the comes up during play, and thoughtful players might
ear, having effectively discover (and exploit) a few loopholes. If they do,
eparate entity from his you’ll have to improvise. If improvisation isn’t one of
unaffected? Probably best your strengths, it’s probably best to forego time travel
re needs to be an underly- for the time being rather than let it disrupt or destroy
your otherwise spectacular campaign.
an follow; otherwise, you’re
es, and that will cause Until the next encounter!
d fall apart.
ravel are simple:
through time is removed
ent timeline.
to the past or future
changing states of
, including older and
imself. He can be
s normal, but nothing
m if his younger or older
ve durations. No matter
or present a character
o stay there for a finite
e the time travel effect
o the time and place
his way, time travel is
ventually, the time trav-
to the exact time and
ny gear he left behind or
d. This is true even if the
past or present.
s an item in the past or
e item when he returns
o, if the character travels
evil wizard and takes
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 51
T
What’s in Kings of Iomandra under one
a Name? is of the essence, for the cutlas
arch-nemesis—a merciless, on
7/14/2011 named Vantajar.
This mythic weapon was la
WEDNESDAY NIGHT. King Draeken Malios, whose s
of the Roiling Cauldron nearly
The heroes have embarked on a quest to retrieve the cutlass found its way into t
Fathomreaver, a cutlass with the power to unite the Sea week’s game, the heroes set sai
gasso and were drawn down in
survived the descent, and their
ocean of jagged ice in the Elem
other vessels trapped in the frig
ship made of black glass and a
Not long after their arrival
with the captains of these stran
azer named Captain Zarance;
Captain Ferrik Spark; a stone-
Shrador; a water archon called
dwarf named Parcilla Shatter
“Oh, frabjous day!” my pla
add to the ever-growing cast o
One of my frequent readers
an email to dndinsider@wi
give my NPCs weird names
and “Vantajar” instead of m
taken from English, such as
“Clearwater.” He’s also curi
ers remember such odd nam
up calling them “the dead S
born dude.”
First, you all need to kno
I like concocting weird nam
of mine, and one that drive
of names that I keep in bind
so that if I ever need a name
of them to choose from. (An
from the list, I strike it off s
plying it to another NPC do
The Dungeon Master Experience: What’s in a Name?
e banner. However, time the best DM tricks in the world, because it gives my
ss is also hunted by their players the impression that I’ve named every NPC in
ne-eyed dragonborn warlord the campaign (which, I suppose, I have).
ast seen in the hands of Sea No John Smiths
ship was lost in the Battle
y a century ago. Somehow There’s a reason why you’ll never encounter an NPC
the Elemental Chaos. In last named “John Smith” in my campaign. I find that
il for the Demonmaw Sar- common English names rip players out of their fan-
nto a deadly vortex. They tasy world. Even “Jonah Hammersmith” treads a
r ship came to rest on an little too close to reality for my tastes. However, I have
mental Chaos near several no problem with “Jaxar Hammersmith” as a dwarf
gid wasteland, including a name. In fact, I think I’ll add that one to my ever-
another made of stone. growing list.
l, the heroes came face-to-face When I set out to build the cultures of my cam-
nded vessels: a fire-haired paign world, I decided to apply certain naming
; a stormsoul genasi named conventions to each race. The tieflings in my cam-
-skinned half-giant named paign are refugees from a fallen empire, so I decided
d Worlus; and a frost-bearded to derive their names from Roman and Greek cul-
rbone. tures (e.g., Decimeth, Hacari, Prismeus, Syken). They
ayers cried. “Five new NPCs to also have names more akin to those presented in the
of thousands!” Player’s Handbook tiefling race entry (e.g., Suffer, Sun-
shine, Thorn, Tyranny), although these names are
s, Matthias Schäfer, sent usually self-chosen monikers.
izards.com asking why I Dragonborn names tend to come from Egyp-
s like “Draeken Malios” tian and Middle Eastern cultures (e.g., Araj, Fayal,
more pronounceable ones Kaphira, Nazir) or sound like names one might
s “Hammersmith” and ascribe to dragons (e.g., Drax, Nagarax, Rhesk).
ious how I make my play- I tend to give elves and eladrin lyrical, multi-
mes so that they don’t end syllabic names, which is fairly stereotypical (e.g.,
Sea King” or “that dragon- Ariandar, Lorifir, Talonien).
Dwarves tend to have simple first names with
ow that I have a problem: hard or earthy consonants (e.g., Glint, Halzar, Korlag)
mes. It’s a favorite exercise or names culled from Polish and Hungarian name
es me to create entire lists generators (e.g., Gyuri, Ferko, Szilard), and they usu-
ders for handy reference, ally have compound last names comprised of two
me on the spot, I have scores common yet emblematic words smashed together
nd once I choose a name (e.g., Ambershard, Ironvein, Stonecairn).
so that I don’t end up reap- Halfling names are simple and playful (e.g., Corby,
own the road.) It’s one of Happy, Rabbit, Ziza), and their last names tend to
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 52
T
include some thematic tie to nature or water (e.g., Rememberi
Blackwater, Skiprock, Yellowcrane).
The gnomes in my campaign, though few in I don’t go out of my way to b
number, have cornered the market on silly first into the minds of my player
names or names tied thematically to magic (e.g., Don- ones that are memorable, a
keywheel, Dweomer, Smidgeon, Sparkle). that are forgettable. If the N
My human names are all over the map. I tend to or has a decidedly memorab
go for names that sound like seldom used real-world of speaking, my players hav
names (e.g., Arando, Caven, Fenton, Mirabel, Remora) remembering the name. Ho
and last names with roots in western European cul- My campaign includes thou
tures (e.g., Caskajaro, Moonridge, Ratley, Van Hyden), no way my players can rem
or names built around nautical terms (e.g., Coldshore, Tharn” is remembered as “t
Keel, Sandershoal). The trick is coming up with turns into a puddle of oil,” I
names that sound human but seem grounded in a else fails, the players can us
world of fantasy, not reality.
In my campaign, a name is used to evoke a certain
mood or fortify the image I have in mind when I envi-
sion the NPC. It’s trite, but evil NPCs tend to have
evil-sounding names unless I’m deliberately playing
against type or trying to mislead the players. “Lhorzo
Zalagmar” and “Azrol Tharn” are two dwarf villains
in my campaign. The combination of certain letters
and sounds (in these specific examples, the letter “z”
coupled with the “ar” sound) gives these names an
indescribable harshness or sleaziness. “Talia Winter-
leaf,” “Alathar Balefrost,” and “Arromar Sunshadow”
are elf villains; here I use specific words such as
“winter,” “balefrost,” and “shadow” to help reinforce
their sinister role in the campaign. Sometimes it’s a
combination of words that really sells the name: Case
in point, the Wednesday night group recently ran
afoul of a warforged villain named “Ironsmile.” And
on occasion, I’ll surprise my players with a lighter
name and apply it to a villainous character, as hap-
pened with a minor gnome villain and bard named
“Clef Wimbly.”
The Dungeon Master Experience: What’s in a Name?
ing Names (the group’s record-keeper) to surf his campaign notes
and remind them if and when it becomes important.
burn the names of NPCs I try not to shove names down my players’ throats,
rs. They will remember the because it usually comes across as forced and too
and they’ll forget the ones often leads to mockery. For example, I would never
NPC appears frequently have my villain announce, “Kneel before me, for I am
ble quirk or manner the pirate warlord Vantajar, scourge of the Dragon
ve a much easier time Sea!” That’s a little too much camp for my tastes.
owever, I don’t sweat it. Better to have an NPC’s name remain a mystery
usands of NPCs. There’s until the players express an interest in learning it, for
member them all. If “Azrol they’ll be more inclined to remember it afterward.
the dwarf vampire who (Would “Voldemort” have been half as memorable,
I’m cool with that. If all unless it should not be said?)
sually count on Curt Gould I must admit, my players have created a private
game around trying to guess how I spell the names of
my NPCs. The first time a name is mentioned, they
take cracks at trying to spell it, anticipating the pres-
ence of a silent “h” or the use of “zh” instead of a “ j”.
How many different ways do my players spell and
pronounce the names “Zaibon Krinvazh” or “Zaidi
Arychosa”? More than one, let me tell you, and that’s
okay. As far as I’m concerned, such names add real-
ism to the world by virtue of the fact that they are
strangely built and difficult to pronounce. I know
plenty of real-world people whose names are equally
challenging (try pronouncing “Jon Schindehette” or
“Bill Slavicsek” correctly, I dare you). Fortunately, my
players have the benefit of hearing me say the names,
so they’re not just reading letters off a page.
Lessons Learned
The first several pages of my campaign binder con-
tain lists of random names, organized by race. Down
the right-hand side of the page are blank spaces
where I can either add new names or record notes
concerning the names I’ve used. For example:
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 53
Human First Names Human Last Names ✦ RPG supplements. Ca
Anlow Arkalis such as the Forgotten
Arando Bilger and the Eberron Campa
Azura (f ) Blackstrand with names that can b
Bram Carnavon campaigns. I can f lip t
Cale Corynnar these two books and fi
etc. etc. that would make a gre
Arando Corynnar — Knight of Ardyn ✦ Real names. Take a re
Cale Blackstrand — Warden Drax’s spy few letters to create so
Perkins” becomes “Ca
Where do I get my names, you ask? I’ve trained my Smith” becomes “Jora
wee brain to devise new names on a whim, but when idea.
I’m stuck or looking to flesh out my list, I turn to sev-
eral readily available sources. Until the next encounter!
✦ The Internet. Need some good names to popu-
late the inhabitants of your dwarf stronghold?
Try doing a Google search on “Hungarian
names.” Need names for that rampaging clan
of goliaths lairing in the mountains? Try
searching for “Hawaiian names” or “Native
American names.” The Internet is full of baby
name lists, pet name lists, and other lists. If
you can’t find the perfect name on such a list,
take two names and smash them together to
create something new.
✦ Movies. Every movie in the past 20 years has
a scrolling list of end credits filled with great
names. Plop yourself down in front of your
laptop or bigscreen TV with a notebook, skip
to the credits at the end of your DVD copy of
Hellboy or The Return of the King, and make note
of some of the cool fantasy-sounding names
that appear. You’ll be surprised how many
good ones you’ll find, particularly if the movie
was filmed on different continents.
The Dungeon Master Experience: Voice Talent
ampaign-focused books Voice
Realms Campaign Guide Talent
aign Guide are strewn
7/21/2011
be repurposed for home
to any page in either of MONDAY NIGHT.
ind an invented word
eat NPC name. The heroes are sailing aboard their elemental ship, the
Maelstrom, when suddenly Captain Yuriel (played by
eal name and tweak a Nick DiPetrillo) receives a sending stone message from his
omething new. “Chris mentor and benefactor, Sea King Valkroi. Word has come
arysto Perek.” “John down that Sea King Senestrago, Valkroi’s hated rival and
an Snythe.” You get the sometime campaign villain, has been killed off-camera in a
naval battle.
To deliver this great news, I conjure up the very best
Jamaican accent I can muster. Suddenly, Nick gives me a
quizzical look and says, “Doesn’t Valkroi have an Austra-
lian accent?”
Crikey!
Nick’s right—I’ve gotten my accents and NPCs
mixed up! It doesn’t happen often, but when it does,
I’m horribly dismayed. I use a Jamaican accent for
exactly one character in my campaign—a drow crime
lord named Maliq du Mavian. You’d think I would
remember that! (And for those who read last week’s
article about names, this one’s pronounced “mah-
LEEK du mah-vee-AHN.”) Truth be told, even good
DMs have their bad moments, and when it comes to
voice acting, I’m at best an amateur.
Before I dive headlong into this short discussion
about using voices to bring NPCs to life, let me tell
you about my recent encounter with a god among
voice talent artists.
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 54
campaigns. The fact that I d
“talent” is why I’m not a pro
Last month, to cap off a very pleasurable experi- not sure I have the chops fo
ence at Comicpalooza in Houston, I shared a limo acting requires serious train
ride to the airport with voice actor and professional dian, which means I can do
announcer Tom Kane. We joked about flying cars accent on command. I can a
and why humans should never be allowed to have real world accents because
them. (I’m sure it sounded grand back in the 1950s movies. The key word here
when futurists first postulated the notion, but imag- sure I can do any accent jus
ine someone’s half-eaten Big Mac, leaky antifreeze, makes it seem like I’m moc
or rusted-out muffler dropping on your head from a vhat I mean, ya? Ditto with F
height of 100 feet. That’s not progress, people.) Russian, Scottish, Jamaican
As we talked and joked, Tom let a bit of Admi- Minnesotan, Texan, and so
ral Yularin (from The Clone Wars animated series) Anyone who’s seen all fo
slip into the discussion. I was also treated to a wee movies and all eight Harry P
bit of Yoda and a few other characters in Tom’s vast to conjure up one or more f
repertoire. The voices came out offhandedly and of course the person is genu
effortlessly, and at that point I realized we had more case one would assume it co
in common than successful careers in the fringes of can’t, it’s probably because
entertainment. Tom was doing something I like to do upside-down. However, unl
in my D&D sessions and in real life—change voices with a trained ear, the voice
in conversation, usually for comic effect—only he was is not the same voice everyo
doing it really well. He is, after all, the professional, I’ve done a lot of podcasts, a
and I’m just an amateur. to myself, I feel like I’m hea
I’m not selling myself short here. After all, being recorded voice does not sou
an amateur isn’t the same thing as being a novice, in my head when I speak al
as evidenced by the fact that I have more than 20 Consequently, when I do
years of experience making up voices in my D&D famous person like Jack Nic
acter like Foghorn Leghorn
create isn’t exactly one or th
but not exactly the same. It
poses, derivative—and that’s
Nicholson playing a part in
a character inspired by him
Leghorn, either; I want a ru
lot of southern bluster or a t
into a wall that thinks it kn
The Dungeon Master Experience: Voice Talent
don’t get paid for my voice Let the Mutilation
ofessional, and frankly I’m Begin!
or that line of work. Voice
ning. However, I am Cana- It’s perfectly fine to mutilate real-world accents. So
o a passable Canadian what if your Maine accent doesn’t sound like a real
also riff on 2d6 + 7 other Maine accent. It’s not like your campaign in set in
I watch lots of TV and Maine, after all; the players won’t hate you because
is “riff,” because I’m not your rendition failed to conjure memories of sum-
stice. My German accent mers spent in Bangor. In my campaign, I have no
cking Germans—you know qualms about “looting” regionally distinctive dialects,
French, Spanish, Cajun, inflections, and idioms. So what if my tiefling hench-
n, Australian, Bostonian, man sounds like a caricature of a Boston thug? My
on. players remember him. He’s the hahd-ass with the big
our Pirates of the Caribbean fat mouth (no offense to Bostonians). Rad Longham-
Potter films should be able mer, the new intern of Acquisitions Incorporated,
fake British accents (unless sounds like a Californian surfer dude—or at least my
uinely British, in which imitation of one—and he earned more than his fair
omes naturally). If you share of laughs at PAX last year.
your lips were sewn on
less you’re a gifted mimic
e you hear when you speak
one else hears around you.
and every time I listen
aring a stranger talk. My
und like the voice echoing
loud.
o an impression of a
cholson, or a famous char-
n, the voice that I ultimately
he other. It sounds similar
is, for all intents and pur-
s perfect. I don’t want Jack
n my campaign, but I want
m. I don’t want Foghorn
uthless sea captain with a
talking stone face carved
nows everything.
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 55
In my Monday night campaign, I have a recurring figure who pops up infrequ
NPC named Rhutha. She’s a fat dragonborn military loonhead, however.
general who really knows how to throw her weight
around. When I speak in her voice, I automatically Lessons Le
stick out my pouty lower lip, talk as deeply as I can,
and enunciate every syllable slowly as though she was One of the most effective w
the long-lost dragonborn sister of Alfred Hitchcock. memorable (after giving him
Then. I. Make. Each. Word. Its. Own. Sentence. physical trait, quirk, or hab
Not surprisingly, General Rhutha is one of the voice inspired by a real-wor
most memorable villains in the Iomandra campaign. Any person or character wi
It’s also easy for me to remember what her voice mark affectation is fair gam
sounds like because my entire posture changes when- Anthony Hopkins. Katherin
ever I get into character. I slouch in my chair and talk The looooons!”). Alan Rickm
down my nose, imbuing her with a certain air of con- “Throw Momma from the Tra
tempt. (Did I mention that DMing is one part acting, Vincent Price. Christopher
one part directing, and two parts improvisation?) Zsa Zsa Gabor. Arnold Schw
I have another dragonborn NPC who bears the looking for something more
scar of having had his throat cut, and he speaks with on a character like Zapp Br
a harsh whisper—simple yet effective. Jessica Rabbit, Gaston (from
I typically reserve “new voices” (as opposed to Ren (“Steeempy, you Eeeediot
higher-pitched, lower-pitched, faster-paced, and (played by Wallace Shawn
slower-paced versions of my natural voice) for impor- from The Princess Bride.
tant characters. My campaign has thousands of NPCs, I occasionally come up w
and it would be physically exhausting and mentally moment” (particularly whe
taxing to give each one a distinctive voice. My players into an NPC on the fly), alth
can usually guess the relative importance of an NPC always the most successful.
by the extents to which I describe the character and is too difficult or too hard to
tinker with the voice. If my description of the NPC is make a villain sound like D
threadbare and the character speaks in my own voice Gadget cartoons, but my thr
(more or less), the players know they’re probably deal- Sometimes the voice just so
ing with a “one-off ” NPC of little consequence. If the up jettisoning it or “wearing
NPC instead sounds like Rosa Klebb in From Russia becomes a bit more palatab
With Love or “Buffalo Bill” from The Silence of the I like to rehearse voices a
Lambs, their expectations are immediately inflated. legged dog, Reggie, tolerate
I rarely forget which voice to use, but it hap- through the back woods, wh
pens—as evidenced by my recent misstep with Sea me. A typical rehearsal is b
King Valkroi. To my credit, Sea King Valkroi was trying to imitate some TV o
envisioned as a particularly important NPC in the Ralph Fiennes’ Voldemort o
Monday night campaign, but because of the direction and maybe twisting it in som
the campaign went, he’s been more of a background female, for example).
The Dungeon Master Experience: Voice Talent
uently. I still feel like a bal- Here are some things worth remembering as you
fearlessly experiment with voices of your own:
earned
✦ Think of an actor whose voice you like. Try
ways to make an NPC to imitate it, and no matter what the quality,
m or her a distinctive you will end up creating a new character voice
bit) is to give him or her a that’s all your own.
rld or fictional character.
ith a cool voice or trade- ✦ Often a bad accent is better than no accent at
me: Antonio Banderas. all, and it doesn’t need to be “over the top” to
ne Hepburn (“Norrrrrman! be memorable.
man. James Cagney. Anne
ain” Ramsey. Peter Lorre. ✦ Change the shape of your mouth. Try speak-
Walken. Cheech Marin. ing with your teeth bared, your lips puckered,
warzenegger. If you’re or your tongue firmly pressed against your
e exaggerated, try riffing lower gums. It sounds stupid, but it works.
rannigan, Yosimite Sam,
m Beauty and the Beast), There are scores of other tips and tricks—had my
t!”), or Vezzini and Fezzik limo ride to the airport been a few minutes longer,
and André the Giant) I would’ve pestered Mr. Kane for some voice acting
advice to step up my game. If you have some tricks of
with voices “in the your own, I’d love to hear about them.
en I’m forced to breathe life
hough I admit those aren’t Until the next encounter!
. Sometimes the accent
o sustain; I once tried to
Dr. Claw from the Inspector
roat simply wasn’t up to it.
ounds horrid, and so I end
g down the edges” so that it
ble.
ahead of time. My three-
es it during long walks
here no one else can hear
basically 5 minutes of me
or movie villain, such as
or Bill Nighy’s Davey Jones,
me way (to make it sound
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 56
Intervention
7/28/2011
FRIDAY NIGHT. to adhere to certain codes
ending the game.
San Diego Comic Con. I’m standing behind a podium, Fact: People play D&D f
hosting a seminar panel on “The Art of the Dungeon and players come to the ga
Master” and sharing nuggets of wisdom with a packed attitudes, expectations, and
house of 350+ people, most of them dedicated Dungeon we need to accept this fact,
Masters actively running campaigns. The presentation adventures, and move on. H
concludes with three tips that have served me well in my campaign I’ve ever run wa
regular Monday and Wednesday night games: (1) show tion of a social contract (us
no fear, (2) don’t get bored with your own campaign, and specifies what is acceptable
(3) under-prepare, but be ready to improvise. ceptable behavior. Ideally,
As my presentation gives way to an open Q&A ses- to certain rules and to
sion, it’s hard to miss the enormous white elephant entertain the players
lurking in the back corner. Every DM in the room is while showing favor-
aware of it. It’s called the difficult player, and it tramples itism toward none.
and destroys more D&D campaigns each year than we The players agree to
dare admit. respect each other’s
play styles, respect the
This is a very real problem and a difficult topic to campaign, and refrain
from cheating. That’s
broach with players. It’s also a topic that you and I, as how great campaigns
and lifelong friend-
dedicated Dungeon Masters, take very seriously. ships come to pass.
Depending on
During the Q&A part of the panel, one strug- your circle of gaming
friends, you might
gling DM bravely stepped forward and announced encounter one or
more players who
that his players made a frequent habit of laying refuse to be bound by
any form of social con-
waste to his carefully laid plans, transforming what tract. They willfully
or subconsciously set
should’ve been an epic campaign into a mind- out to undermine your
less slaughterfest. Not all DMs have the luxury of
choosing their players. Options are limited, and
sometimes jettisoning even one player can cause the
entire group to crumble.
That leaves two courses of action: restructure
the campaign to give the players more of what they
want (and less of what you want), or force them
The Dungeon Master Experience: Intervention
of conduct on threat of authority, the campaign, the other player’s enjoy-
ment of the tabletop gaming ritual, or potentially
for different reasons, all of the above. Maybe they like to challenge your
ame table with different rulings, maybe they like to murder all of your quest-
d play styles. As DMs, givers, or maybe they keep hogging the limelight
, account for it in our and depriving the other players of opportunities to
However, every successful roleplay.
as built on the founda- Here’s what I suggest you do when confronted with
sually unspoken) that one or more such players: ask them to read the fol-
e behavior versus unac- lowing letter, or read it to them. Before sharing
it, decide whether to remove the phrase “because of
the DM agrees to adhere you” in the first paragraph; reserve it for players who
aren’t likely to fly off the handle when confronted
with the truth. If you think the intervention can do
without it, cut it.
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 57
Dear Player(s) . . . Lessons Le
D&D is a game about heroes working as a team to I have a degree in rhetoric,
complete quests, defeat villains and monsters, and thing about writing persuas
interact with the campaign that I’ve created. Right keep things short and hone
now, because of you, our D&D game isn’t working, For spouses and siblings, do
and I need your help to fix it. Better to memorize as much
possible, and then deliver it
It’s my job as the Dungeon Master to present a world versation. No point turning
for your character to explore and fun challenges to a family feud!
overcome. It’s also my job to set the rules of the Your goals should be to c
game, be fair to all players, and keep things exciting. lem without dwelling on it,
I’m hoping the campaign can last a while, and that desirable behavior, which is
your characters have a chance to become more pow- a solution the serves everyo
erful and face new threats at higher level. It’s a lot of the player to be part of the s
work—and frankly, you’re not making it easy on me. they agree to join your ques
depends on how much they
It’s your role as a player to have a good time, but of the game. Immature or d
not at the expense of me, the campaign, or the might refuse your “gracious
other players. When we sit down to play, there’s an intervention works, and som
unspoken agreement that must be respected so that painful) cure for an ailing c
everyone has a good time. You can’t have a rock band the disruptive player. It’s no
if one player refuses to take it seriously or doesn’t necessary.
allow everyone else to enjoy the experience. The The intervention is best
same holds true for D&D games. That’s not to say when more disarming meth
you can’t have fun, but we need to agree on what’s and Wednesday night game
fun for everyone. amount of rowdiness and g
have bad nights and silly m
Here’s what I’d like to do: I want to create the best, that things are getting out o
most fun campaign—not just for me, and not just for about steering the game ba
you, but for all of us. In return, I want to hear about force of will and the occasio
the things you like and don’t like about the campaign, play this game right” remar
as well as ways I can make it more suitable for your police each other; more ofte
style of play so that you’re having fun. I also want you ones making sure that their
to think about what makes the game fun for me and things up and reduce the ca
everyone else. Ultimately, we all want to have a good That said, I met at least
time, but right now that’s not happening. Comic Con whose players
quest to thoroughly trash h
my gaming group, I’d pack
my campaign for a worthie
The Dungeon Master Experience: Intervention
earned I might also drop by my local gaming store on a
Wednesday night, unfold my DM screen, and run
so I know a little some- a D&D Encounters session. Who knows? I might
sively. Whatever you do, meet some players who actually respect all that the
est and private. One caveat: game has to offer.
o not hand them a letter!
h of the general content as Until the next encounter!
t in a back-and-forth con-
g a dysfunctional game into
call attention to the prob-
and to focus on more
s working together to find
one’s best interests. Inviting
solution is key; whether
st to save the campaign
y really want to be part
disenfranchised players
s” invitation; not every
metimes the best (albeit
campaign is to cut loose
ot ideal but sometimes
used as a last recourse
hods fail. In my Monday
es, I allow a certain
give the players license to
moments. When I perceive
of hand, I have no qualms
ack on track through sheer
onal “Okay guys, let’s
rk. I also let the players
en than not, they’re the
r “inner jerks” don’t screw
ampaign to rubble.
one DM at San Diego
are 100% united in their
his campaign. If that were
k up my books and save
er band of adventurers.
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 58
Maptism
8/4/2011
WEDNESDAY NIGHT. to create the versions that a
sion of the final map.)
The adventurers are plying the Elemental Chaos when Those of you who choose
they happen upon a pirate base made from the hulls of six D&D Lair Assault progra
wrecked ships. The map for this location is something I’d ber and running concurren
created for another purpose—an upcoming Organized Play Encounters program) migh
event called D&D Lair Assault: Talon of Umberlee— encounter for which this m
but I loved the way it turned out and decided to plunder not, feel free to loot the map
it for my home campaign. A DM’s gotta do what a DM’s That’s what I do—and what
gotta do, and there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that. Master does.
When I was a kid, I spen
If I could get a paying job as a “D&D mapmaker,” I allowance on D&D and AD
would take that job in a heartbeat—even if the pay knowing full well I’d never
sucked. Don’t get me wrong—I’m perfectly happy
with my current line of work—but creating maps has
always been a true passion of mine. Many hours have
I spent drawing halls and statues and spiral staircases
on graph paper over the years! These days, my sched-
ule rarely permits me to indulge this artistic passion.
Often I’m forced out of necessity to repurpose maps
created for other uses—either maps I’ve created
myself or maps created by others.
At right is the version of the map I created for
Talon of Umberlee and plundered for my Wednesday
night game, juxtaposed with a more professional ren-
dering of the same map by freelance cartographer
Mike Schley.
Damn, that’s a cool map, if I do say so myself!
Mike’s version is lovely, but the location itself has a
certain novelty. I spent a long time getting the shape
of the hulls just right. It’s always risky to go “off the
grid,” and I struggle a bit with curved walls. (With
this map, I cheated: I drew a ship’s bow on a separate
piece of graph paper and then traced it over and over
The Dungeon Master Experience: Maptism
appear in my sketch ver- them. The adventure maps were usually printed on
the inside covers, and they were so incredibly evoca-
e to participate in the tive and immersive that I would often decide whether
am (premiering in Septem- an adventure was worth running based solely on the
ntly with the in-store D&D maps. Would Count Strahd von Zarovich be half the
ht actually get to play the vampire he is today if not for Castle Ravenloft?
map was truly designed. If I think it’s hard to be a Dungeon Master and not
p for your home campaign. be inspired by good maps. World maps, dungeon
maps, castle maps—they define the world as much
every good Dungeon as any character, NPC, or plot. I don’t think a love of
maps is required to be a great DM, but it certainly
nt a large chunk of my hasn’t hurt or hindered me. In fact, whenever I try to
D&D adventure modules, conjure up a new adventure, one of the first things I
r find time to run all of
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 59
think about is the key adventure location and what managed to create intersect
the map might look like. In your campaign, it might ties for one group’s antics to
be a haunted castle, a temple built by a pharaoh’s One thing that Monte an
monstrous thralls, or the killer dungeon of a mad beyond our passion and pre
archwizard. In my campaign, it might be the winter a love of maps. He, like me,
palace of the Dragovar emperor, a star pact warlock’s cionado. One need only flip
celestial observatory, or an elemental warship. Ptolus: City by the Spire tome
Recently I had an opportunity to catch up with maps brought to vivid life. (
Monte Cook, who I don’t see often enough these days, won an ENnie Award in 20
much to my chagrin. Monte is a brilliant DM who cre- When Monte worked at
ates stories of remarkable depth and worlds of such used to bring graph paper t
intricacy that they feel absolutely real (although what ously Gygaxian dungeon m
actually makes him brilliant is his willingness to let of those offhand designs en
the players decide where to take the campaign and same thing in high school E
roll with it, which, incidentally, is the topic of next regret was that I didn’t save
week’s column—but I digress). Years ago, I was a regu- crappy as they doubtless we
lar player in Monte’s famous Ptolus campaign which, often nonsensical, and over
like my current campaign, was run with two different that even dungeons need so
groups on Monday and Wednesday evenings. I was in design—that even the crazie
both groups, which allowed me to observe how Monte builds toward a purpose, an
of size needs at least one lav
I don’t have as much tim
to, so whenever I attend a g
have a few hours to kill, I gl
hall and peruse RPG books
see something I like, I’ll bu
dering it for my home camp
products are notorious for c
produce great stuff, and the
larly awesome.
When I’m feeling lazy or
the graph paper and instead
inspiration. For an upcomin
create a map of a mansion, s
prints” into the Google searc
among the myriad images th
of a real-world residence cal
Realizing that I was mis
I did a Google search on W
covered an excellent websit
The Dungeon Master Experience: Maptism
ting stories and opportuni- of the mansion, with maps of the upstairs and down-
o influence the other. stairs levels as well as exterior and interior images
nd I have in common that could easily serve as player handouts. Marveling
edilection for DMing is at my good fortune, I copied the mansion blueprints
, is a diehard map afi- (GIFs) to my desktop.
p through the 672-page Since these maps don’t have a grid, I decided to
e to see his passion for add one. (The grid makes it easier for me to replicate
(The book’s cartography sections of the map on a wet-erase battle map during
007.) the game.) I downloaded some free digital graph
Wizards of the Coast, he paper, which is a wonderful DM resource, and even
to meetings and draw glori- specified how big I wanted the grid and the paper
maps. I wonder how many size to be. After converting the graph paper PDF
nded up in print? I did the into a JPG, I superimposed the maps of the mansion
English class—my only onto the grid. I copy-and-pasted them onto the graph
e any of those old maps, paper as separate layers and resized them using the
ere. My early designs were Edit > Transform function of Adobe Photoshop so that
r the years I’ve learned the walls and grid aligned more closely. Here, then, is
ome internal logic in their what the mansion’s ground floor looks like on digital
est archwizard or pharaoh graph paper:
nd every castle regardless In Photoshop, I can erase the tags I don’t want and
vatory or privy. add whatever other embellishments I like. However,
me to draw maps as I used
gaming convention and
lide through the exhibit
s for interesting maps. If I
uy it in the hopes of plun-
paign. Masterwork Maps
catching my eye; they
eir castle maps are particu-
r pressed for time, I forgo
d turn to the Internet for
ng adventure, I needed to
so I typed “mansion blue-
ch engine and discovered
he following low-res image
lled Whitemarsh Hall:
sing the upstairs blueprint,
Whitemarsh Hall and dis-
te chronicling the history
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 60
in this case, the maps don’t require much manipula- DM’s
tion. I’m pretty happy with them as they are.
8/11/2011
Lessons Learned
MONDAY NIG
I’ve often joked that maps are D&D porn for Dun-
geon Masters. Forgive the weird analogy, but opening The heroes are assaulting the
up the gatefold covers of old AD&D adventures is stronghold of Vecna-worshipi
like opening a Playboy or Playgirl centerfold, inviting the inner sanctum, they disco
drooling DMs to take their players into the poisonous ies have summoned an aspect
dungeon beneath the Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan dracolich. As the aspect turns
or the haunted house on the cliff in The Sinister Secret guered, resource-drained hero
of Saltmarsh. Past issues of Dungeon are another great beg for a truce, remembering
source of maps; the magazine has been around in one Lord share a common foe—a g
form or another since 1986, and those of you who Realm.
have access to back issues are sitting on a veritable I ask the players to make g
goldmine. the aspect of Vecna considers
We’re even learning the lesson here at Wizards dice results are in the party’s f
and trying our best to get new maps into DM’s hands, lord decides to heed the wisdo
by every practical means, because we know DMs don’t a temporary alliance. The asp
have the time or ability to create their own. Alas, too destroy those they came to de
many modern adventure modules don’t pay enough a more worthy vassal to them
mind to creative map design, and consequently they a pledge to aid them in their e
offer precious little plunder for DMs who need good Realm threat.
maps to fuel their campaigns. (There are many nota- End of session.
ble exceptions.) If you can’t steal a map from Dungeon
magazine or some other source, you can always turn This is not how I expected t
to the Internet and use its power for good. expected what most DMs e
Do a Google search on “castle maps” and see what followed by a lot of blood an
you get. Now try “dungeon maps.” Next, “wilderness then, I sometimes forget tha
maps.” Finally, try searching for “medieval city maps.” compass but lets the players
(editor’s note: Don’t pass up a chance to visit the Car- I’ve often said that impro
tographer’s Guild.) I think you’ll be awakened to new any Dungeon Master’s toolb
adventure possibilities. Truth be told, you might never skill than a tool, and I prim
need to draw another map again—although I hope to curtail on preparation tim
that’s untrue, since it’s incumbent upon all DMs to from stalling or becoming d
put pencil to graph paper and create new dungeons develops over time.
that might one day get published for the rest of us to
steal at our leisure.
Until the next encounter!
The Dungeon Master Experience: DM’s Lib
s Lib If you doubt your improvisational skills, take the
following test:
GHT.
The heroes have a quest to slay Snurre Iron-
e Black Candle, a secret belly, the fire giant king. After slaughtering
ing wizards. Upon reaching their way to his august presence, they decide
over that their adversar- on a whim not to kill him. Instead, they offer
t of Vecna mounted on a their services as mercenaries-for-hire, citing
s to destroy them, the belea- their success in breaching his hall as proof of
oes lower their weapons and their competence. Maybe the offer is genuine,
g that they and the Maimed maybe it’s a ruse. Regardless, does Snurre
growing threat from the Far attack the heroes?
group Diplomacy checks as Some DMs prefer to run published adventures
their characters’ words. The because the story is heavily scripted, and the likeli-
favor, and so the undead hood that the DM will be called upon to improvise
om of their counsel and forge is greatly reduced. But even published adventures
pect allows the heroes to cannot account for every action the player characters
estroy and promises to send might take.
m at a later time, as part of In Hall of the Fire Giant King, the classic AD&D
efforts to destroy the Far module, the heroes are expected to kill Snurre. At
least, that’s what Gary Gygax surely intended when
the game session to end. I TSR published the original adventure back in 1978.
expect: a few minced words However, no published adventure can account for
nd shattered bones. But every possible player choice, and a good DM, like any
at a good DM provides the good storyteller, knows an opportunity when he or
s choose the direction. she sees it. Snurre’s death might be a foregone con-
ovisation is the best tool in clusion, but situations that naturally arise to forestall
box. Actually, it’s more of a the inevitable are always worth exploring, as are
marily rely on improvisation opportunities that allow characters to break out of the
me and to keep my game traditional “adventurer” role and spend a few sessions
dull. And like any skill, it trying on different hats (like the mercenary hat, for
example) or exploring their morality.
Were I the DM, I would let the skill check results
guide my decision, but I would be strongly disposed
toward taking the story in the more unexpected
direction. Being a fire giant, Snurre would certainly
respect shows of brute force and raw power, so of
course he’d want mighty adventurers at his beck
and call—who wouldn’t? Having the heroes become
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 61
Snurre’s henchmen, even briefly, is the stuff players heroes have a secret and a c
will remember long after the campaign has ended. campaign on its head. By al
Now try this one: twists and turns, you’ve forc
and every time you do this,
The heroes receive a quest to escort the Impe- improves and the players’ e
rial heir to the capital. The foolish young of the water.
heir proves to be a royal pain in the ass, and In a seminar at San Dieg
despite the heroes’ efforts (or because of DMs to “under-prepare, the
them), the heir dies en route. Rather than campaign, like many camp
deliver his dead body, the heroes bury it and published adventures can’t
decide that one of them will use a hat of dis- roleplaying and politics, an
guise to impersonate the heir and perhaps, in dungeons.) Consequently, I
time, assume lordship over the kingdom. As adventures, even short ones
the DM, do you allow this? own encounters week after
session, I type up a one-pag
Yes, of course you do! Maybe you never expected the my campaign binder (click
campaign to bend in that direction, but it’s a perfectly this page is a summary of im
logical development to the story, and one that’s likely to be recapped at the start o
to spur all kinds of wonderful roleplaying opportu- a list of NPCs who will like
nities and campaign developments. Suddenly the followed by short descriptio
ters I expect to happen. If th
location to explore, I includ
swatches of descriptive text
tant details. Sometimes I’ll
unique NPC or monster, bu
blocks and modify them as
Instant Monster).
The one-page session ove
degree to which I “under-pr
It provides a few guideposts
is improvised. I find my pla
lack of preparation on my p
when the action stalls and r
committed to a course of ac
The Dungeon Master Experience: DM’s Lib
chance to really turn the Lessons Learned
llowing for unexpected
ced yourself to improvise, When the players do something that threatens to take
, your improvisational skill the story in an unexpected direction . . .
expectations are blown out
✦ Allow it.
go Comic Con, I urged
en improvise.” My ✦ Imagine the next logical outcome or event,
paigns, has needs that and proceed from there.
address. (It has lots of
nd very few sprawling If, for some reason, you can’t think of the next logical
I rarely use published outcome or event, consider ending the session on a
s, preferring to devise my cliffhanger and allowing yourself time to mull over
r week. Before each game the implications. A hero wants to use a hat of disguise
ge document that goes into to impersonate the royal heir? No problem. But let’s
here for an example). On see what happens when a perceptive royal sibling
mportant things that need succeeds at an Insight check and senses something
of the session, followed by is amiss. Maybe the threat of discovery leads the
ely make an appearance, characters to kill two birds with one stone by murder-
ons of events or encoun- ing the king and framing the suspicious sibling for
he adventure includes a his death. Again, no problem! Yeah, the characters
de a map accompanied by have usurped a kingdom, but all the threats to the
t reminding me of impor- kingdom are still there—and, ironically enough, the
require a stat block for a heroes’ skills as adventurers might be the kingdom’s
ut I try to use existing stat best hope of survival. The campaign marches on, just
needed (as discussed in not in the way you or your players expected.
So my Monday night group, out of dire necessity,
erview illustrates the has forged an alliance with the evil god of secrets.
repare” for a game session. The players know it’s a marriage of convenience not
s, but most of the session long for the world, but it raises lots of interesting ques-
ayers don’t suffer for the tions and opens up lots of roleplaying opportunities.
part, as long as I prod them Can the heroes learn to work alongside Vecna’s evil
roll with them once they’ve servants? Will certain characters’ personal misgiv-
ction. ings threaten to end the alliance? Which side will
betray the other first? By their choices and actions,
the players have made the campaign more interesting
and complicated, and they’ve put my improvisational
skills to the test. I shall not disappoint them!
I’ve learned that the secret to developing one’s
improvisational skills as a DM is to listen to what
the players want to do, and then steer the adventure
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 62
in that direction, even if it runs counter to my own Epic F
expectations. Only when my expectations are chal-
lenged can the campaign go off in surprisingly fun 8/18/2011
directions. Many campaigns die of boredom (DM
boredom, player boredom, or both), but you can miti- WEDNESDAY
gate the threat of boredom by keeping yourself open
to ideas and demonstrating to your players that you’re A legendary cutlass has fallen
not locked into telling one story and one story only. onborn warlord Vantajar, one
villains. He’s a level 30 solo br
Until the next encounter! ship, a crew of epic pirates, and
mercenaries riding thunderclo
Seeking the cutlass for them
board Vantajar’s vessel and en
despite the fact that they’re on
numbered 7 to 1. As the storm
at the party spellcasters, Vanta
on Kael, the party cleric, dropp
his negative bloodied value.
With their own ship too far
the heroes are in dire straits. F
inevitable.
Never underestimate the re
players. When things look g
death seem fixed on their c
find a way to turn certain d
the players might figure ou
power or healing surge. An
that half-forgotten magic ite
tip the scales in the party’s
I stacked the odds against m
them frantically search the
campaign notes for someth
tide.
And even when nothing
always a chance that their l
their cold dice might sudde
seen player characters call
The Dungeon Master Experience: Epic Fail
Fail themselves at my mercy, and on rare occasion I’ve
allowed the gods to toss them a bone, particularly if
Y NIGHT. they’ve earned it.
Not this time.
n into the hands of the drag- The Wednesday night characters have thrown cau-
of the campaign’s major tion to the wind and acted rashly, and they’re doomed
rute with an elemental war- to break like waves upon the rocks. At least, that’s
d a half dozen storm giant what I’m expecting will happen. Even as I write this
oud chariots. column, the battle is still playing out. However, it’s
mselves, the adventurers safe to say that I’ve stacked the deck against them.
How could I not? Throughout the entire campaign,
ngage their hated foe head-on, Vantajar has been touted as a supreme badass, a leg-
nly 24th level and are out- endary renegade who surfaces like a giant shark in
m giants hurl lightning bolts the nightmares of child and Sea King alike.
ajar brings his cutlass down What makes good drama? In a word: failure.
ping him dangerously close to You can’t have drama if the heroes never fail. We
all know the story of the good guy who faces the bad
r away to render assistance, guy before he’s ready and gets his ass kicked. What
Failure is not an option — it’s usually happens next is that the good guy deals with
the consequences of his failure, learns a valuable
esourcefulness of good lesson, gathers his wits and self-confidence, and deliv-
grim, when the cold eyes of ers the villain’s comeuppance. The story’s an oldie but
characters, they somehow a goodie.
defeat into victory. One of The first article in this series (Surprise! Epic Gob-
ut a way to regain a spent lins!) talked about using lower-level challenges to
nother might whip out make player characters feel powerful. It should come
em or plot detail that can as no surprise that higher-level challenges have their
favor. Many times have place in the game as well. I use them all the time, not
my players and watched to be cruel but to reinforce the notion that some chal-
eir character sheets and lenges aren’t balanced for the heroes’ level. It forces
hing—anything—to turn the the players to switch gears, try different tactics, and
rely on more than their swords and spells. It also
g presents itself, there’s makes the campaign world a scary place, even to epic-
luck could change, that level characters.
enly turn red hot. Hell, I’ve It’s my job as the DM to make sure that the heroes’
out to the gods, throwing failure doesn’t spell the end of the campaign. If the
Wednesday group prevails against all odds, I’ll have
to work harder the next time they come face-to-face
with a major campaign villain. If Vantajar defeats
them, the campaign isn’t over, for I’ve concocted a
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 63
logical reason why he’d wan
alive.
Here’s a behind-the-curt
thinking, to give you an ide
that went into planning the
heroes’ failure: Vantajar des
cutlass to unite the Sea Kin
of Iomandra—under his ban
are cast aside, he will comm
that of the Dragovar Empir
to himself become Empero
present the cutlass before th
artifact hidden in the island
and be judged worthy of its
Sea Kings kneel before him
character, Deimos, is better
stinger, and the supremely
see his enemy broken and f
all the other Sea Kings. To k
panions now would deny V
victory, not to mention the s
stinger’s command.
In the event of their defe
be knocked unconscious, d
hauled to Krakenholt. En ro
of torture will deprive them
and any ability to take shor
out their precious magic ite
and daily powers, the heroe
to threaten Vantajar directl
all sorts of reversals. They m
crew member to return a u
a sending stone). Maybe the
and take their revenge as V
lass to the Eye of the Krake
fate will intervene on their
attacked en route by a Sea K
his ascendency, and the res
heroes a chance to reclaim
freedom, or maybe the Eye
The Dungeon Master Experience: Epic Fail
nt to keep his enemies the evil warlord to be unworthy of the cutlass, deny-
ing him his destiny. Villains become much more
tain glimpse of what I’m interesting when things don’t go their way. They are,
ea of the thought process after all, dark reflections of the heroes.
e likely outcome of the
sires to use the legendary Lessons Learned
ngs—the merchant lords
nner. Once the old feuds Sometimes a DM has to be cruel to be kind. Some-
mand a navy greater than times, for the sake of suspense and good drama, you
re, and he plans to use it have to drive the heroes into the dirt so that they
or. However, he needs to can pick themselves back up, sharpen their game
he Eye of the Kraken (an (and their blades), and stage a storybook comeback,
d fortress of Krakenholt) becoming even more powerful than when they faced
s power. Only then will the defeat. Here are some helpful tips to guide you:
m. Chris Youngs’ tiefling
r known as Sea King Imp- ✦ Be transparent: Give your players hints that
arrogant Vantajar wants to they might be in over their heads.
forced into servitude like
kill Deimos and his com- ✦ It’s okay to set the characters up for failure.
Vantajar an even greater Just don’t be surprised if they succeed.
ships under Sea King Imp-
✦ If you expect the characters to fail and they
eat, the characters will fail, know where to take the story from there.
deprived of their gear, and
oute, a generous helping Many players don’t like it when their heroes fail,
m of their healing surges die, or both—especially when it happens during an
rt or extended rests. With- “unfair” encounter. My players understand that I’m
ems and their encounter not on a quest to annihilate their characters or make
es will be hard-pressed them feel like useless tools, and so should yours. In
ly, and yet I can imagine classic and modern fiction, heroes rise, fall, and rise
might convince a disloyal again. The unfair encounter is something you can use
useful magic item (such as occasionally (emphasis on occasionally) to rouse your
ey’ll ride out the journey players and propel your campaign in interesting new
Vantajar presents the cut- directions.
en. If all else fails, perhaps If your players are unaccustomed to being
trounced and you’re worried that they might turn
behalf: Maybe Vantajar is against you, you could do worse than sow the seeds of
King determined to stop their eventual comeback. Tell the players how much
sulting battle affords the you’re looking forward to seeing how they remedy
their gear and win their their characters’ latest misfortune, and plant a few
of the Kraken will judge hints as to how they might succeed next time. Maybe
the villain’s subordinates are badly treated and could
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 64
T
be turned against him. Maybe the heroes can dis- The V
cover a weakness to exploit. Maybe the villain lets
down his guard or makes a classic blunder of over- 8/25/2011
confidence. But I’m getting ahead of myself!
Just as the best heroes have faults, so too do the If you are planning to a
best villains. We’ll tackle this subject in next week’s SPOILERS. You might wa
column, and I’ll pull a few examples not only from
the Iomandra campaign but also from the adventure For those who don’t kno
I have in store for Acquisitions Incorporated at this gang of Acquisitions Incorp
year’s live D&D game at PAX 2011! Stay tuned. be a dick!” Wheaton) in fr
technics, costumes, and liv
Until the next encounter neglecting my home camp
excites me most about the
been and pit them against
If you can’t attend the e
When last we left Jim D
dead companion Aoefel fro
them to New Hampshire fo
grandfather. The main villa
he’s expecting, namely a se
interesting, however, I nee
I hit upon the notion tha
staff family, a rival clan of
could have very interesting
or hearing creatures of fey
To Percy’s credit, he’s no
is quite clever, if you ask m
unusual magical propertie
The Dungeon Master Experience: The Villain’s Fault
Villain’s Fault
PAX Prime Time
attend the Live D&D Game at PAX 2011, be warned! This article contains umpteen
ant to skip this section.
ow, this Saturday, in the Paramount Theater in Seattle, I’m running a live game for the
porated (Mike “Gabe” Krahulik, Jerry “Tycho” Holkins, Scott “PvP” Kurtz, and Wil “Don’t
ront of a crowd of 2,500+ PAX attendees. I’m told there will be grand entrances, pyro-
ve minstrels (as opposed to dead ones, I suppose). For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been
paign to prepare for this blessed event, but costumes and minstrels aside, the thing that
e game is the opportunity to take Acquisitions Incorporated somewhere they’ve never
t a worthy villain.
event, be sure to watch our live streaming coverage.
Darkmagic, Omin Dran, and Binwin Bronzebottom, they had just freed their not-so-
om the prison-fortress of Slaughterfast. With the gang reunited, it was decided to draw
or the reading of the Last Will and Testament of James Darkmagic I . . . Jim Darkmagic’s
ain of the adventure is Jim’s cousin, Percival Darkmagic, who doesn’t get the inheritance
ecret chest of magical lore that the Darkmagics have kept for generations. To make him
eded to give him some faults.
at Percy had foolishly promised to deliver this chest of “Darkmagic magic” to the Wort-
archwizards, and woe to him should he fail! I also gave him a more peculiar fault that
g consequences: Due to a curse placed upon him as a child, Percival is incapable of seeing
y origin. I suspect Wil (who plays the eladrin Aoefel) might have some fun with that!
ot a buffoon. He’s a very, very bad person, and his plan to seize his “rightful inheritance”
me. (Spoiler: It has something to do with the Darkmagic mansion itself, which has some
es.) He also has a “thing” for his sister, which makes him appropriately loathsome.
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 65
T
MONDAY NIGHT. jeopardy and leading to
the heroes, and the Drag
The heroes break into a safehouse belonging to a guild of would like nothing more
tiefling thieves called the Horned Alliance. Their objective? Alliance broken once an
To free a captured member of a rival guild.
The heroes manage to free the prisoner and make their Cale Blackstrand: This
escape, only to find themselves pinned down on a rickety Dragovar Empire. When
balcony overlooking a city built along the edges of a sunken nals to the island prison
grotto. An evil silver dragon working with the Horned deals and taking bribes t
Alliance lands on the balcony and blocks their escape. As free. He also has a weak
the dragon begins spewing its villainous monologue, the When Andraste (Michel
balcony creaks under the dragon’s weight, shudders, and needs help freeing her a
breaks away. tantly turns to Cale. Und
Before the dragon can spread its wings and take to the Cale would betray her in
air, it crashes into the city below and disappears in a cloud money and leaving Andr
of dust and debris. Suffice it to say, the players are dumb- he’s smitten by Andraste
founded and seize the chance to make good their escape. blindly agrees to her term
that he might be the one
My villains, unlike their mad creator, are imperfect.
They’re not omniscient. They don’t know everything, Osterneth the Bronze
and like the player characters, they arrive at errone- Vecna (from the days be
ous conclusions based on faulty assumptions. They a powerful lich who hide
miscalculate. They fall down. They suffer setbacks. the illusion of a charmin
My villains are deeply, profoundly flawed. And that’s the heroes cut a deal wit
why my players like them to a fault. Osterneth is sent as the M
The best thing about faults is that they can be representative to assist th
exploited. Case in point, here are three villains from Although she provides th
my Iomandra campaign, each of whom has faults for intelligence, she’s also ga
clever players to exploit: dark master. What Oster
trusted changeling man
Prismeus: This tiefling henchman works for day betray her and divul
Zaibon Krinvazh of the Horned Alliance and has her husband’s shriveled,
been loyal to the crime lord ever since Zaibon inside her ribcage, and t
bailed him out of prison. While imprisoned, spell Vecna’s doom.
Prismeus was tortured by his dragonborn cap-
tors, his face scarred by acid. His ill treatment I’ve played in games run by
and disfigurement has made him resentful of all portray villains as unerring
dragonborn, and his loyalty to Zaibon is beyond of themselves. These villain
reproach. When Zaibon is killed off by the heroes, thing and always have the a
Prismeus turns the Horned Alliance against Zai-
bon’s killers, putting the entire organization in
The Dungeon Master Experience: The Villain’s Fault
a standoff between him, been imbued with an inexplicable omniscience. It
govar authorities who threatens my suspension of disbelief as a player when
e than to see the Horned my character confronts a villain only to learn that the
nd for all. DM has gifted his precious bad guy with an unbe-
lievable amount of precognition and insight into my
s oily cad works for the character’s plans, intentions, and secrets. Omniscient
n he’s not escorting crimi- villains are boring; I’d rather face a villain who gets
of Zardkarath, he’s cutting my character’s name wrong or flees upon taking a
to allow criminals to be set critical hit. Suddenly, that villain seems infinitely
kness for powerful women. more real to me.
le Carter’s character)
aunt from prison, she reluc- Lessons Learned
der normal circumstances,
n a heartbeat, taking her The most memorable villains in television, film, and
raste’s aunt to rot, but literature have faults as big as the San Andreas. These
e and, like a lovesick fool, faults not only make them seem “real” but also lead
ms. It never occurs to him to their inevitable ruin. In the re-imagined Battlestar
e betrayed. Galactica, Admiral Cain (played by Michelle Forbes)
can’t see past her hatred of the Cylons, and that
Lich: She’s the ex-wife of hatred destroys her. In the Bond movie Casino Royale,
efore he became a god) and the villain Le Chiffre is undone by one too many bad
es her true form behind gambles. Hannibal Lector’s fault is his affection for
ng noblewoman. When Clarice Starling which, on multiple occasions, nearly
th an aspect of Vecna, costs him his freedom. Annie Wilkes’ fault is her
Maimed Lord’s trusted sycophantic adoration for Paul Sheldon, which blinds
hem in their endeavors. her to his ultimate betrayal at the end of Stephen
he heroes with crucial King’s Misery. These faults do not make these char-
athering secrets for her acters any less fearsome or menacing. If anything, it
rneth fails to see is that her makes them more likeable.
servant, Metis, might one So here are the key takeaways:
lge her secret—that she has
, still-beating heart lodged ✦ Villains aren’t perfect, and like the PCs,
that its destruction would they don’t know everything and they make
mistakes.
y experienced DMs who
g, evil-minded extensions ✦ Let the players see your villains’ f laws so that
ns seem to know every- they might exploit them.
advantage because they’ve
If you’re unaccustomed to concocting flaws for your
villains, consider some of the classics: love (the villain
is infatuated with one of the characters or another
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 66
NPC), hatred (the villain is blinded by hate and can’t T’wit
think straight), ritual (the villain cleaves to certain
predictable habits), arrogance (the villain doesn’t 9/1/2011
kill the heroes when presented with the chance),
fear (the villain is afraid of something), gluttony WEDNESDAY
(the villain is never satisfied and always craves more),
deformity (the villain suffers from a physical impedi- Kael, the party cleric, lies dead
ment), and curse (the villain is tormented by an warlord Vantajar moments be
affliction, bedevilment, or unusual malady). meets his end. Before Kael’s bo
Maybe your villain is blind or haunted by ghosts. vaged, the enormous water ele
Maybe your villain needs a special elixir to stay warship escapes captivity and
young, or maybe your villain has the world’s stupid- ing heroes f lee into an extradim
est henchmen (like “Mom” in Futurama). In branding epic level, after all) and so avo
your villains with flaws, you might inadvertently turn in the Elemental Chaos.
them into clowns, fools, boobs, or imbeciles. Fear not. Chris Champagne (Kael’s
As long as they do bad things, your players will still to play a new character, and I
love to hate them. trying to facilitate this charac
As for Percival Darkmagic (see sidebar), it remains fan of new characters showin
to be seen whether he can hold his own against the of voices exclaiming, “You loo
heroes of Acquisitions Incorporated. Frankly, I’m prefer well-staged entrances. R
more concerned that Aoefel might go wandering Sparrow’s entrance in Pirates
around the Darkmagic mansion by himself—and we it doesn’t get better than that.
all know what happens when you split the party! In Chris’s new character is Ko
any event, if you can’t attend the live game at PAX, no with the Prince of Hell epic de
worries: The game will be filmed and posted so that characters use the Plane Shift
the rest of the world can see how things went down at own ship, I orchestrate a rolep
the Darkmagic estate. Tyranny (the succubus concub
cocts a ritual to summon Kosh
Until the next encounter! (as she’s known) is convinced t
extra firepower, but her ritual
from nine different mortals, an
has only the crewmembers abo
from. She must also convince t
is a good idea, and that having
in the party has certain advan
an easy sell.
In fact, it proves to be a ve
more than an hour of back-an
The Dungeon Master Experience: T’wit
Y NIGHT. conniving on my part to make happen. Meanwhile, Chris
remains silent for most of the session, jotting down notes
d—killed by the evil pirate about his character’s background as I do everything in
efore the warlord himself my power to bring Kosh into play—everything except
odily remains can be sal- shout to the other players, “Look, guys, Chris has a
emental powering Vantajar’s new character he wants to play, so stop roleplaying
sinks the vessel. The surviv- already and let him play!”
mensional space (they are I’m soooo glad I didn’t have to say that.
oid plunging into a sea of acid
Thanks to a rash of conventions and summer vaca-
player) jumps on the chance tions, many of us at Wizards are playing catch-up
I spend the rest of the session around the office. The interruptions have also
cter’s introduction. I’m not a impacted my Monday and Wednesday night cam-
g up inexplicably to a chorus paign and thrown me off my game, to wit: Last week
ok trustworthy!” No, I much was the first time in a long time that I sat down at the
Remember Captain Jack game table and couldn’t remember where we’d left
s of the Caribbean? Yeah— off the previous session. I had to check my notes to
. realize, “Oh yeah, the players are smack-dab in the
osh, an infernal pact warlock middle of the biggest battle of the campaign!”
estiny. After the surviving DM “spaz moments” aside, I run a very brisk
ritual to get back to their game—as evidenced by watching the games I run for
playing encounter in which Acquisitions Incorporated and the writers of Robot
bine of the ship’s captain) con- Chicken. When I look back at my notes from the
h from the Nine Hells. “Tyra” previous Wednesday night session, I see a long list
that the party could use the of “stuff that happened” that needs to be organized
requires nine drops of blood and recapped for the players’ (and my) benefit. It also
nd being an immortal, she reminds me that a DM has the power to propel the
oard the heroes’ ship to choose campaign forward at a staggering pace with a few
the player characters that this simple tricks.
g an epic-level Prince of Hell This installment of The Dungeon Master Experi-
ntages. Suffice to say, it’s not ence discusses the ancient art of contraction as it
pertains to D&D game sessions. My impetus for tack-
ery hard sell and takes ling this subject comes from some recent encounters
nd-forth roleplaying and with DMs at conventions. One question I get asked
from time to time is, “How do you pack so much stuff
into one session?” I’m guessing that many DMs have
experienced occasions when the campaign loses all
forward momentum and plods along at an insuffer-
able pace, either because the players lack motivation
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 67
or because the players get distracted by too much technique a lot as my wa
nonsense. “The DM thinks you oug
In English grammar, we use contractions to neatly to that.” Sometimes my p
dispose of unnecessary letters and syllables in conver- advice, but that’s more b
sation and informal writing. “I’m” is shorter and takes used NPCs to deliberate
microseconds less time to write and say than “I am.” tion and advice (a topic w
I contract my campaign in much the same way; on a deserves its own article).
per-example basis, it doesn’t amount to much, but a
minute saved here and there really starts to add up in I keep my description
a 4-hour game session. ters are hired to escort a
Here are a few specific tactics that I use: Town A to Town B and I
with bandits at some poi
I cut my campaign the way a film editor cuts sentence to describe the
a movie. If I find the session is lagging, I jump tence to describe the jou
ahead as far as I reasonably can without causing bandit encounter. Then,
the narrative to become disjointed. It might be a sentence that describe
rounds, minutes, hours, days, or months, but I do beat “character moment
my best to encapsulate the skipped time period or significant NPCs. For
and press on. In my Wednesday night game, the nightfall on the first day
ritual that Tyranny casts to summon Kosh from chants uncorks a cask of
the Nine Hells happens very quickly in real-time passes out flagons. Those
because I wanted to give Chris a chance to play. the whiskey find it diffic
But at the same time, his entrance needs to be your watch.” These sente
memorable yet appropriate, and so I go the route sequential details to give
of a giant flaming pentagram. To take a more don’t dwell on stuff that
common example, if the characters are spending ers want more informati
too much time shopping for gear in town, I might dwarven whiskey), they’
say, “After a couple hours spent gearing up in
town, you find everything you need and head east, I keep my NPC descrip
following the edge of a vast, dry canyon. Six hours In the Wednesday night
later, as the sun begins to set, you descend into recently faced their arch
the canyon and make camp near a fat cactus that My description of Vantaj
provides ample water.” With a couple sentences, I warlord, was that he was
can push the story along and skip over countless large for his species—and
wasted minutes. bolted to his skull, a la G
pher Plummer) in Star T
Using subtlety and guile, I help players get Country. Everything else
past points of indecision. If the players are imaginations. I generally
mired in indecision, I have an NPC offer them a distinguishing character
well-reasoned opinion or bit of sound advice, or
I give a player some free bit of information his I don’t frontload infor
or her character would logically know. I use this out in dribs and drabs, a
always provide more inf
The Dungeon Master Experience: T’wit
ay of telling the players, ask for it. As the DM, I control the pace of the
ght to do this, as opposed game, and if it takes me five painfully long min-
players will ignore the utes to describe the contents of a room, chances
because I have, on occasion, are good that the players will fail to pick up or
ely feed them bad informa- remember important details that will then need
which, by the way, really to be repeated. My players don’t need to know that
. a balcony is 20 feet high until that information
becomes relevant.
s spare. If the charac-
a merchant caravan from I keep track of initiative on a magnetic white
I’ve staged an encounter board. That way, the players can see when their
int in between, I take one turns are coming up and plan accordingly. Giving
e caravan and one sen- them visibility into the combat order reduces the
urney from Town A to the number of wasted minutes during a player’s turn.
if I feel so inclined, I add I exhibit a low tolerance for player indeci-
es a few pertinent or off- sion in combat. Combat is supposed to be fluid
ts” involving the PCs and/ and fast, and nothing causes the game to grind to
r example, “Shortly before a halt faster than an indecisive player who can’t
y of travel, one of the mer- decide what actions his character should take on
f dwarven whiskey and his turn. I will press the player with questions such
e of you who partake of as, “What does your character do?” If this doesn’t
cult to stay awake during push the player to swift action, I ask, “Would you
ences might include incon- like to delay?” (which, if answered in the affirma-
e the campaign color, but I tive, lets me skip forward until the player decides
he’s ready to jump back in). Other favorite sayings
isn’t important. If the play- of mine include, “You can always use an at-will
ion (such as the brand of power” or “Do whatever feels right for your charac-
’ll usually ask for it. ter.” Another thing I do is have a monster or NPC
verbally taunt or insult the character, which often
ptions brief as well. incites the player to take immediate action against
t game, the adventurers the offending enemy (and also breaks the lull with
h-nemesis for the first time. a touch of roleplaying).
jar, the dragonborn pirate
s 9 feet tall—unnaturally I ignore a lot of conditions and ongoing
d had a metal eyepatch damage effects. Ongoing damage and conditions
General Chang (Christo- such as “slowed” and “weakened” are useful in
Trek VI: The Undiscovered moderation, but they slow down the game. I urge
e was left to the players’ novice DMs to avoid them like the plague. I would
y like to give an NPC one rather have a monster deal straight-up damage
ristic before moving on. than apply “rider effects” that need to be tracked
(unless they’re part of a monster’s “shtick”). Since
mation. I let it trickle most ongoing damage effects end after 1 round
and not just because I can
formation if the players
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 68
anyway, it’s faster and easier to have a monster that Monster Non
deals “ongoing 10 damage” simply deal 10 extra Level Damage
damage on the initial attack, and be done with it. (At
I dump irrelevant encounters. I imagine every 1
encounter as a scene in a movie script and decide 2
for myself whether it’s worth preserving or not. 3
Even a minor encounter should advance the cam- 4
paign narrative in some way or provide interesting 5
“character moments.” At the very least, it should 6
present a challenge unlike anything the play- 7
ers have faced before. If the players are suffering 8
through their sixth “random wilderness encoun- 9
ter” in a row, I’ve done something horribly wrong. 10
11
Sometimes it hurts to cut stuff; case in point, I 12
had to cut a bunch of planned moments from this 13
year’s live D&D game at PAX purely due to time 14
constraints, including a cool bit where the Dark- 15
magic mansion decides it doesn’t like Binwin 16
Bronzebottom and turns against him—a pity, but 17
that’s just the way it is. 18
19
I sometimes use average damage values. Aver- 20
age damage used consistently and to excess is 21
boring and predictable—two things a DM never 22
wants to be accused of being. Still, it’s tech we’ve 23
applied to minions with great success. In a given 24
session, I roll lots of dice, and adding up num- 25
bers takes time. When running complex combat 26
encounters, I alternate between rolling damage 27
for monsters and taking average damage. I have 28
a chart similar to the one below attached to my 29
DM screen, and for the record, I treat monster 30
“recharge” powers as encounter powers when
determine average damage for them.
The Dungeon Master Experience: T’wit
on-Brute Non-Brute Brute Damage Brute Damage
amage Damage (At-Will) (Encounter)
t-Will)
(Encounter) 11 16
9 12 18
10 13 13 20
11 15 15 22
12 16 16 24
13 18 17 26
14 19 18 28
15 21 20 30
16 22 21 31
17 24 22 33
18 25 23 35
19 27 25 37
20 28 26 39
21 30 27 41
22 31 28 43
23 33 30 45
24 34 31 46
25 36 32 48
26 37 33 50
27 39 35 52
28 40 36 54
29 42 37 56
30 43 38 58
31 45 40 60
32 46 41 61
33 48 42 63
34 49 43 65
35 51 45 67
36 52 46 69
37 54 47 71
38 55
57
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 69
Lessons Learned When it comes to setting
dozens of tactics I use to cra
One analogy I’m fond of using is that a D&D cam- into my game sessions, som
paign is like a wagon. The players are the horses, and nessed than explained, but
the DM is the driver holding the reins. As the players to being aggressive in my ef
move forward, they take the campaign and you along the important stuff and get
with them, and you can guide them to a point, but that might lead the campaig
they can be stubborn, hard to motivate, or just plain to slow to a crawl, or reduce
out of control. Sometimes you have to snap the reins, of fun. I’m sure you have yo
but if you “crack the whip” too often and keep the tricks for packing more pun
players running at full speed all the time, they’ll get sions, and I’d love to hear a
worn out, so you need to set a pace that’s comfortable With regard to my Wedn
for them but also gets the wagon where it needs to go. a special kind of player to si
his friends decide whether
Had I been “on my game,”
contract the back-and-forth
of summoning a Prince of
put his cool new character
didn’t go the route of havin
out of nowhere and ask, “A
warlock?” Talk about dumb
P.S. Thanks to everyone wh
poll! The heroes of Acquisi
short work of Gygax the ca
butler didn’t do it.
Until the next encounter!
The Dungeon Master Experience: T’wit
g a brisk pace, there are
am more “gaming time”
me of which are better wit-
most of them boil down
fforts to focus players on
them past distractions
gn astray, cause the pace
e the players’ overall sense
our own “tried and true”
nch into your game ses-
about them.
nesday night game, it takes
it still for an hour while
r or not to let him play.
I would’ve found a way to
h debate about the merits
Hell so that Chris could
r in play. Still, I’m glad I
ng Kosh magically appear
Anyone need an infernal
b.
ho voted in last week’s
itions Incorporated made
at—for once it appears the
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 70
The
Lies My Imazhia, the dragonborn
DM Told of villain—the one who pret
Me the evil Far Realm entities i
confound and destroy the a
9/8/2011 campaign, Imazhia died ab
and was raised from the de
MONDAY NIGHT. The players saw her as a cas
unaware that the villains w
Trouble on the high seas! Mind f layers are attacking coastal were actually doing them a
settlements and ships, and the adventurers are preparing out. After returning from th
to assault an illithid nautilus—a ship of mind f layers—to one of the heroes’ most trus
rescue the prisoners aboard. Imazhia, an NPC dragonborn dreams to guide their actio
priest of Bahamut who receives prophetic dreams, offers to from the monstrous threat
cast a ritual on the characters to grant them resistance to By the time the threat beca
psychic damage. The players readily accept the gift before the heroes trusted Imazhia
teleporting aboard the nautilus, knowing they have their NPCs in the campaign. Sur
work cut out for them. Bahamut who’d died and co
Aboard the enemy vessel, the heroes find themselves would never deceive them.
taking a lot more psychic damage from the mind f layers’ In the real world, people
attacks than expected. Something is clearly amiss, and it different reasons. Maybe th
doesn’t take a wizard to realize Imazhia has lied to them. saying is true. Maybe they a
Her ritual has actually made them more vulnerable to denial and can’t face the tru
psychic damage, not more resistant! the truth to protect someon
they’re lying out of guilt and
I lie to my players all the time. Or rather, my NPCs maybe they’re lying for the
do. with you. The less-than-hon
I never lie to my players “out of game.” In my role deceive for all of these reaso
as DM, I’m always honest, lest the players walk away my players must constantly
from the game table in frustration and never return. what they know about the i
But “in game,” I like to feed my players a tasty mix of It makes for some very inter
true and false information. It adds to the campaign’s tell you!
realistic texture. In addition to the myriad
the truth, there are good lia
paign has both. Imazhia is a
and it doesn’t hurt that her
priestly demeanor and the
hanging around her neck. I
of really good NPC liars in
ful, since it takes time for p
web of lies, and frankly, too
e Dungeon Master Experience: Lies My DM Told Me
n priest, is a special kind be a bad thing. On the other hand, my campaign has
tends to be helpful until no shortage of bad liars, and in some respects they’re
in her head set out to more fun. The players don’t have to work nearly as
adventurers. Early in the hard to cut to the truth, and a bad liar makes for great
board an exploding ship comedy.
ead by her fellow priests. Feeding false information to player characters is
sualty of a villainous plot, something that’s been part of D&D since the early
who sabotaged the ship days of the game. Old adventures such as module L1
a favor by taking Imazhia The Secret of Bone Hill had those marvelous “rumor
he dead, Imazhia became tables” that encouraged you to roll dice to determine
sted advisors, using her which rumors the characters knew. Some of the
ons and steer them away rumors were true, some false. I once ran module L1
posed by the mind flayers. for some middle school friends who learned, via the
ame too great too ignore, rumor table, that the Baron of Restenford was cha-
a more than most other otic evil, and so they decided to attack the baron’s
rely a psychic priest of castle. Never mind that the baron was actually cha-
ome back from the dead otic good. They stormed the keep, slaughtered the
e speak untruths for many
hey believe what they’re
are lying because they’re in
uth. Maybe they’re hiding
ne (or something). Maybe
d fear of discovery. Or
cheap thrill, just to screw
nest NPCs in my campaign
ons, to the point where
y judge the words against
individual speaking them.
eresting roleplaying, let me
d reasons for not telling
ars and bad liars. My cam-
an example of a good liar,
words are bolstered by a
holy symbol of Bahamut
I try to limit the number
my campaign to a hand-
players to hack through the
o much of a good thing can
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 71
The
guards, executed the baron and his family, and made When in doubt, tell the play
off with some fine suits of armor and tapestries. Even the old D&D adventu
Pelltar, the baron’s wizard, finally set them straight, true rumors than false ones
but the damage had been done. I decided to use the constantly deceived any mo
misunderstanding as a springboard for a follow-up ming in shark-infested wate
adventure in which the heroes tracked down the time comes to deceive them
source of the false rumor and discovered an evil have all the fun. Even good
thieves’ guild seeking to gain a foothold in Resten- have reasons to lie, and you
ford. In hindsight, that was a pretty clever idea for a shamefully misinformed be
15-year-old! ticians and court jesters, an
In the intervening 25 years, I’ve become quite the dark secrets.
practiced liar. Whenever the characters arrive in a Basically, you need to as
new village, town, or city, I pepper them with local NPC say something untrue
rumors—some true, some false. As any practiced liar to gain from deceiving the h
knows, the secret to adding rich layers to any D&D cause to lie on that NPC’s b
campaign is the aforementioned happy blend of truth respects “unintentional mis
and deception. If all of my NPCs lied to my players interesting way to go, since
all of the time, that wouldn’t be a fun experience for with an NPC who is sincere
anyone. Similarly, if the NPCs told the truth con- threaten with violence). Rec
stantly, the players would take everything—including game, two characters were
my campaign—at face value. In the real world, drama wielding a soul-draining sw
is natural outcome of humans trying to ascertain named Osterneth said she h
what’s true and what’s false, and the emotions and souls trapped within the bla
confusion that come when humans are dishonest of trying to set them free, ac
with one another. Why should the drama of my cam- sword and souls contained
paign be any different? ers felt confident enough in
Insight skill checks to belie
Lessons Learned sincere, and she truly was. T
all-knowing, all-powerful N
I love the roleplaying opportunities that arise when times, and it’s harder for pla
players attempt to deceive monsters and NPCs in NPC who speaks honestly.
my campaign, and as they say, turnabout is fair play. Let’s take a little test, sha
When it comes right down to it, there are basically example from my Monday n
two kinds of untruths your NPCs can tell the player world of Iomandra, wood is
characters: for shipbuilding. Talia Wint
a wood-trading consortium
✦ Deliberate deceptions Coster, has bribed a clan of
an iron mine owned by the
✦ Unintentional misinformation consortium; Talia did so in
from finishing a prototype
e Dungeon Master Experience: Lies My DM Told Me
yers things that are true. impress the Dragovar Empire enough to win a lucra-
ures tended to have more tive shipbuilding contract. The heroes learn of the
s. Players don’t like to be plot, confront Talia, and threaten to take down the
ore than they enjoy swim- Winterleaf Coster unless she pulls the giants out of
ers. However, when the the mine. Talia does as they wish and promises not to
m, don’t let your evil NPCs interfere with the Cartel’s shipbuilding operation any
d and unaligned NPCs further. It’s also worth noting a minor complication
ur campaign world is full of that works in the party’s favor: Talia has genuine feel-
enefactors, inveigling poli- ings for Kithvolar, the party’s elf ranger (played by Jeff
nd good people who harbor Alvarez). So the question is: Is Talia lying?
The jury’s still out, but in this case my instinct is to
sk yourself, why would the say no—she’s speaking the truth. The players already
e? If the NPC has anything have sufficient cause to believe she’s dishonest, and
heroes, then you have just thus it’s more surprising that Talia will be true to her
behalf. However, in some word. Also, her feelings for Kithvolar help to tip the
sinformation” is the more scale in the party’s favor, and her fondness for the elf
ranger would realistically impact her decision. But
the characters are dealing don’t worry—I haven’t gone soft. Talia can’t speak for
e (and therefore harder to her father or the rest of the Winterleaf Coster, who
cently in my Monday night will no doubt continue to make the players’ eyes roll
killed by a death knight with their sinister business practices.
word. An evil-aligned NPC Next week, we discuss what to do when a charac-
had the means to free the ter dies suddenly and leaves behind untold stories
ade and, in the process and unfinished business. The campaign marches on,
ccidentally destroyed the but will it ever be the same?
within. Some of the play-
n their characters’ high Until the next encounter!
eve Osterneth was being
The lesson: Even the DM’s
NPCs make mistakes some-
ayers to justify killing an
all we, using another
night campaign: In the
s rare and highly prized
nterleaf, whose father owns
m called the Winterleaf
f frost giants into attacking
e Ironstar Cartel, a rival
order to prevent the cartel
iron ship that it hopes will
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 72
C’est La Fantastic question!
Vie The characters in my cam
their own actions (although
9/15/2011 plays its part). When a char
ticularly at higher levels, th
WEDNESDAY NIGHT. of unfinished business. I alw
interesting choice of contin
When last we left the party, Deimos (played by Chris or trying something new. T
Youngs) had led his stalwart companions into the Elemen- plot devices to revive a dead
tal Chaos to recover the fabled cutlass Fathomreaver, which even built races and classes
he hopes will unite Iomandra’s divisive Sea Kings under his characters to come back in
banner. (the revenant springs to min
The quest culminates in an epic fight aboard the In my group, I have play
Maelstrom, an elemental warship commanded by the drag- in their characters and are
onborn warlord Vantajar. With Fathomreaver in hand, the pissy when death becomes
evil warlord cuts down Kael, the party’s deva cleric (played ers with very little emotion
by Chris Champagne), but it’s Deimos who deals the final characters; they look forwa
killing blow and slays Vantajar. acters into the party mix. A
As the warlord’s blood spills across the deck, the water fall into the latter camp. A
elemental bound to the vessel is released and wreaks havoc. ings about it one way or th
The elemental unleashes its fury upon the ship itself, break- players should be allowed
ing it in two. As the Maelstrom goes down in a sea of acid, to play (within reason). I d
the surviving heroes escape into an extradimensional space tions, and there are very fe
but are forced to leave their dead behind. . . my campaign can’t accomm
forethought.
This week’s installment tackles a question posed Chris Champagne joine
by “Arbanax” in response to a previous column. in the middle of the campa
Arbanax’s question, which I’m paraphrasing below, Kael, his deva cleric, actual
had to do with the untimely death of one of the char- time was during a Hallowe
acters in my long-running Wednesday night game: ing a killer plant and severa
(As a fun aside, the other ch
“I am intrigued as to how you handled the cleric’s death, potion to reanimate Kael un
seeing as he’d been part of the campaign for so many from the dead, giving Chris
levels. I assume he had a backstory and other stuff left bified version of Kael for th
unfulfilled. How do you handle this?” Kael’s second death came a
born warlord Vantajar in th
a further insult, Kael’s body
dissolved in a sea of acid.
Deva characters have a
but in this instance, Chris
The Dungeon Master Experience: C’est La Vie
mpaign live and die by come to put Kael aside and try something new—this
h the luck of the die also despite the fact that Kael was close to unlocking
racter is killed off, par- the secrets of a past life in which he was the loyal
hey can leave behind a lot manservant of a young princess who would eventu-
ways give the player the ally become the Raven Queen! Now, it’s possible that
nuing to play the character Kael has been “reborn” somewhere (as devas are
here are plenty of D&D wont to do), and so there’s still a slim chance that he
d character, and we’ve might reappear before the campaign concludes, but
s for players who want their Kael’s story basically ended when Chris decided to
a slightly different light play Kosh, his infernal pact warlock with the Prince
nd). of Hell epic destiny. The fact that Kael’s story is
yers who invest heavily incomplete doesn’t raise my hackles; in a game in
e crestfallen or downright which heroes die, it’s not always possible to get per-
s them. I also have play- fect closure. You end up trading closure for shock as
nal investment in their the surviving characters realize, “OMG, he’s dead!”
ard to injecting new char- A sudden death might cut short that character’s
As a player, I very much story, but hopefully it gives his surviving compan-
As the DM, I have no feel- ions the newfound impetus to press on despite their
he other. In my opinion, trepidation.
to play what they want My campaign occasionally takes a hit whenever
don’t rule their imagina- a character dies, usually because I have storylines
ew character concepts tied to that specific character that have nowhere
modate with a little bit of left to go. C’est la vie. In Kael’s case, he had found a
relic (a bronze raven mask from a bygone age) that
ed the Monday night group triggered f lashbacks of his past life as a royal man-
aign’s paragon tier, and servant, and we had just begun to explore that past
lly died twice. The first life and Kael’s discovery of the Raven Queen’s true
een-themed episode involv- name. Also, one of the campaign’s major villains, a
al enslaved “pod people.” rakshasa named Chan, had strong ties to the Kael
haracters used a special character—they were enemies in a past life. Luckily
ntil he could be raised for the campaign (and unfortunately for the play-
s the chance to play a zom- ers), Chan has made enough enemies in the party
he extent of the adventure.) that he’s still “in play” as far as I’m concerned. Had
at the hands of the dragon- this not been the case, Chan might have fallen by
he Elemental Chaos, and as the wayside.
y was cast overboard and If my Wednesday night campaign has one struc-
tural flaw, it’s that many of the big story arcs hinge on
built-in rebirth mechanic, certain lynchpin characters. No offense to Mat Smith,
decided the time had but if Garrot the fighter was crushed to death by a
falling tarrasque, the villains steering the campaign
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 73
character was unlikeable, u
whelming in the personalit
those poor red-shirt-wearin
to resist the urge, since that
of “bad form” and is usually
player just rolls up an even
character.
Lessons Le
Much has been written on
character death,” and at th
wood on that fire, it’s only
the player is left feeling un
will survive and metamorp
the player want to continu
player wants to continue e
character or feels that ther
to tell, then the DM’s task
player happy. If the player
ders and starts talking abo
idea, then your challenge b
new character feel like he
campaign.
wouldn’t even slow down to take a picture. Some ✦ The decision to revive
characters are defined more by their personality fall to that character’s
or abilities than by their narrative importance. On think of a clever way t
the other hand, if Deimos died, the entire focus of ter, there’s always the
the campaign would shift, as the party’s impetus to
unite the Sea Kings is mostly driven by Chris Youngs’ ✦ If the player decides to
character. the dead character’s m
(But you know what? As I write this, part of me is ter’s heroism echo thr
so excited by the very idea that I’m half-tempted to
drop a tarrasque on Deimos just to watch the cam- ✦ Your campaign is stro
paign cartwheel off a cliff or take one last unexpected character. When a cha
turn in the back end of epic tier. unfinished business b
Of course, that would be wrong.) vie” and move on.
That said, over the years I’ve encountered the odd
character I’ve wanted to kill off—usually because the Kael died protecting his fri
of the Wednesday night cam
wisely believed that Kael w
The Dungeon Master Experience: C’est La Vie
unbalanced, or under- death, and so he let the character go. My responsi-
ty department (much like bility as DM is to keep Kael “alive” by evoking his
n’ sods in Star Trek). I try name from time to time in ways that make his sac-
t’s the DMing equivalent rifice meaningful. A saddened NPC might remark
y counterproductive—the on Kael’s absence, an emissary from the Shadowfell
more asinine or useless might reassure Kael’s companions that their lost
cleric has taken his place by the Raven Queen’s side,
earned or a campaign villain might remind the heroes how
weak and vulnerable they’ve become without their
n the topic of “coping with deva cleric to back them up. It’s also a tasty bit of
he risk of throwing more irony that the party’s escape from the sinking ship
was facilitated by an exodus knife which Rodney
the DM’s problem when Thompson’s character lifted from Kael’s corpse, so
nsatisfied. Your campaign the party has a useful memento mori to remind them
phose regardless, but will of their bygone friend.
ue partaking of it? If the As a final aside, Kael wasn’t the only character
exploring the facets of the who perished in the climactic battle with Vantajar.
re’s an untold story left
should be to make the
shrugs his or her shoul-
out a cool new character
becomes how to make this
or she belongs in your
e a dead character should
s player. If you can’t
to bring back the charac-
Raise Dead ritual.
o “move on,” be kind to
memory: Let the charac-
rough your campaign.
onger than any one
aracter dies and leaves
behind, declare “C’est la
iends in the greatest battle
mpaign to date. Chris
would achieve no greater
December 2011 | DU NGEON 197 74
The
Many of the characters came close, but a human The
pirate named Armos (played by Nacime Khemis) Invisi
also died a player-imposed “permadeath.” Armos Railro
had been introduced several sessions earlier after
Nacime’s primary character—a warforged warden 9/22/2011
named Fleet—was abducted by Vecna cultists wish-
ing to study the “living construct.” I’m pretty sure that MONDAY NIG
Nacime knew Fleet would be back eventually and
that, at some point, he would be playing two char- As they edge toward the end o
acters. Armos wasn’t around long enough to win the Monday night group confronts
hearts of his companions or carve out a major char- bers of the Shan Qabal, a pow
acter arc for himself, so it remains to be seen whether the sunken city of Io’halador. D
his death has any lasting impression. Years after a fortress they encounter a warf
campaign concludes, it’s perfectly natural for DMs secret kingdom protected by th
and players to remember certain characters more forged poses no threat and clai
readily than others, much as our real-world history leaders of the Dragovar Empir
judges heroes as popular or unsung. since the emperor disappeared
of the great mysteries of the ca
Until the next encounter! My players immediately g
warforged is not some throwa
important figure in the campa
taken the time to develop. He
emotions, and several Insight
clearly means the party no ha
the heroes allow the warforge
suspicious of its motives and e
it to the capital, at which poin
well and tries to leave the par
Cordell’s tief ling warlock atta
surprised by Melech’s snap de
the warforged drops to 0 hit p
planted in its chest causes the
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